My vision for public libraries

“Hi Tim. It’s true that one cannot go along doing something simply because it has gone on before. My reasons for a public library service will be different to everyone else but I offer them up here for criticism:

1) Libraries provide an essential service for those marginalised by society. I include in this the lonely, the unemployed, those with mobility issues, even those with IT access issues. In addition, we are the place where people go when they have no place. A civilized society cares for all its citizens. Libraries are a vital part in this. Summary: Social Welfare.

2) Libraries provide a vital place for children to learn books are for fun, not just for education. We provide the space to lie down with a teen book. We provide the lively storytime with a drum to bang and a rhyme to learn. We provide the helpful voice suggesting the next thing to read. We are ambassadors for fun reading into schools, for parents, for the street child who comes into the library in search of warmth. Summary: Literacy.

3) We provide free provision of that computer vital to apply for the available-only-on-the-internet job. We provide the printer to print the CV. We provide the newspaper that has the vacancy. We provide the assistance for those who cannot spell and who have lost the confidence to apply one more time. Summary: Employment.

4) We provide the space for dance, for artwork, for the author to visit and the local society to advertise. We provide crayons and paper. We provide the book on the Artist and the colour printer for the poster. We provide the space for the homeless author to write. Summary: Culture.

5) We provide the book on the illness. The internet article on the mysterious bump. The helpdesk from the local NHS Trust and the mental health group that by reading aloud to eachother learn that they are still part of the human race. We provide the book on coping with stopping smoking. Summary: Health.

6) We provide unbiased and neutral spaces, newspapers of all political views. A shop that is not a shop where people can sit and do what they want with no-one demanding they buy anything. A place to research and, yes, a place to rant. Summary: Democracy.

7) We provide the computer and the printer and the fax and the workspace and the wifi. We provide the skilled assistance and the heating and the space. Summary: Digital inclusion, Business Development.

You will laugh and say that I overstate the case. That this is an ideal world and not reality. That we lost the way some time ago. That I kid myself. I would say that you asked for reasons for what we should be and not a description of what are. I will say that I limited myself to just seven reasons because I wanted to keep ten in reserve.

You will say that we are jack of all trades and we need to concentrate on the one resource we were indubitably set up to provide. I will shout from the rooftops that we provide what we need to provide because we serve the community and society without price tag. We are the service without portfolio. We are the third space.

You will say the evil lazy librarians have lost their way. I will say that most haven’t. I will say that the vision is that we provide skilled services and have the training and manpower to do it.

It’s the reality that needs to change, not the vision. The more people with the vision, the more the decision makers will listen.”

This entry was posted by Ian Anstice on September 18, 2012 at 10:12 pm, and is filed under Uncategorized. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

I couldn’t agree more with Ian and the comments above. I can only comment with any knowledge on my own local library obviously but we do a lot of what Ian describes. It is more than just books, it’s really outreach for the elderly, infirm and vulnerable to give them access to things like the internet, books and to interact with other people and get advice and be signposted to other services like CAB etc. A lot of elderly library users want to remain independent and use the library as part of their daily routine to keep them out and about, busy and fit. I’m sure the library has helped keep a lot of people out of care homes and hospitals because they provide this vital link to the community. The library also does lots of activities like mindfulness courses and chair exercise in conjunction with the local NHS. These are done when the library isn’t open so it’s making extra use of what otherwise would be a closed building. It is inevitable that over time the e-book will start to eat into the usage figures for libraries (not in my opinion in the next 5-10 years though) and libraries are going to have to more than about just books. This is what the SCL and CILIP are failing to promote and sell libraries as to politicians in my opinion, worth so much more to their communities than just a place to get free (not actually free since we pay!) books. They are especially important in the isolated rural areas where services are thin on the ground anyway. All this extra stuff we do has nothing to do with the “librarians” in head office, I have no idea what they do all day, this is all the work our brilliant library manager, assistant and volunteers and it will be cut when we have to run the library ourselves.

Books (physical or electronic) are, of course, a vital part of library service provision; and if that is what user surveys say users want and expect from the service then of course the library should provide them. However, Ian is also spot on in that a library is so much more than just a ‘book warehouse’. If it were ‘only about the books’ then you could just as well provide a room full of books with a security guard on the door and leave the public to their own devices inside.

People need guidance, both beforehand as it were with stock selection and on the spot with literacy help, help choosing & finding the right books, and also with all the other services to help people find information in all the varied formats and places where it exists today. Unlike 20 years ago or more, books are NOT the only places to find either reading material or reference material.

Perhaps Tim does state his position in a rather dogmatic and very commercially-focused way, but he is ‘right’ in that books are still important and book stock selection and helping people find the books they want (and displaying them in an useful way in attractive surroundings) is the core function and value of a library. Ian is also ‘right’ in that libraries core mission is to help people find and use the information they need – and that today information is increasingly digital and online. It is no good burying our heads in the sand and pretending this isn’t happening, or that libraries should stick to just books and let someone else worry about the digital stuff – else libraries will end up as museum pieces.

Brilliant post, Ian! Another couple of things we also provide: the computer courses to enable people to gain the skills to put together a printed CV inthe first place; the support to the illiterate mother who needs someone to suggest books for her children to give them better skills and lives than she has had. These are both things that have happened in our library recently. Maybe people who think that libraries should do more and more different things don’t actually appreciate how many of those things we already do!

Libraries offer places to study, computer courses, meeting rooms for the community, help and advice to people who don’t have access to CAB facilities, books and talking books to housebound library users, DVD’s and talking books for people who have difficulty reading. They also provide user-friendly equipment for those with sight problems and printing facilities for those people who need to print off travel documents and boarding passes to enable them to travel (maybe to find employment).
The local bus companies have stopped printing bus timetable books so now libraries provide printed copies of timetables downloaded from the internet to enable people to travel to hospital appointments, job centres, CAB offices and work.
They also provide access to government policies, Hansard, legal information on concerning buildings, employment regulations, shares information, historical documents and so on. They provide music and drama libraries and a wealth of historical literature. Libraries contain important local history information for personal and professional use with well-trained and experienced staff who have an understanding and knowledge far beyond what can be found in a book or website.
Libraries can be and are a lifeline for all members of the community and not a luxury that can be dispensed with for the sake of a few pence on somebody’s tax bill.

Please note that this website is produced entirely independently of any employer or other organisation. Any view expressed within are wholly mine.

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From 1st January 2018: 20 libraries + 2 mobiles in Derbyshire.

From 1st January 2017, 100 libraries are under threat (5 in Bath, 17 in Bristol, 17 in Bury, 5 in Cheshire East, 3 in Cumbria, 8 in East Sussex, 4 in Liverpool, 7 in Midlothian, 21 in Northamptonshire, 10 in Plymouth, 4 in South Tyneside).

Since 1st April 2016 to end of March 2017. CIPFA reported 105 libraries closed, bringing the total to 3745 branches. 2015 to end of March 2016: CIPFA reported 121 libraries closed, bringing the total to 3850 libraries. In 2014/15 there was a decline of 106 public libraries, (with 260 static libraries were put under threat of closure/passing to volunteers. 9 mobile libraries under threat in the same period). .

There were 4023 in 2013/14, 4482 in 2009/10 and 4622 in 2003/4. CIpfa have calculated that 121 service points lost in 2015/16, 106 service points were lost in 2014/15, 49 were lost in 2013/14, 74 were lost in 2012/13, 201 in 2011/12, 33 in 2010/11.

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